Episodes

  • Goldilocks: The Boy Behind the Wall | Daniel LaPlante

    Goldilocks: The Boy Behind the Wall | Daniel LaPlante
    Oct 2 2026
    This October, Serial Napper is opening the storybook for another season of Serial Nightmare. This year, we're taking familiar fairy tales and looking at the very real cases that echo their darkest themes. We begin with Goldilocks. In 1986, the Bowen family began noticing strange things inside their Massachusetts home. Food disappeared. Objects moved. Tina and Karen heard unexplained noises and became convinced that something was inside the house. Their father wasn't so sure. Then one evening, Frank Bowen opened a closet and found a teenage boy standing inside. His name was Daniel LaPlante. What followed would turn an already terrifying home invasion into one of the strangest true crime cases I've ever covered. Because when police searched the house, Daniel seemed to disappear, nd the truth about where he had been hiding was only the beginning. In this episode of Serial Nightmare, we'll follow the Daniel LaPlante case from the Bowen family's disturbing discovery through the events that followed: the investigation, trial, appeals, and the legal decisions that would eventually change the sentence he received. Because Goldilocks is a very different story when someone enters your home without permission...and doesn't leave. Sources: https://www.grunge.com/369653/the-truth-about-murderer-daniel-laplantes-childhood/ https://www.talkmurderwithme.com/blog/2021/2/3/daniel-laplante https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/daniel-laplante-priscilla-gustafson-murder-1987-townsend/ https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/12/03/A-teenager-accused-of-holding-a-man-and-his/7669565506000/ https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/daniel-laplante-murder-priscilla-gustafson-family https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/03/22/killer-three-townsend-seeks-sentence-reduction/g05AdJcWXPBZiAS9rvHYDI/story.html https://law.justia.com/cases/massachusetts/supreme-court/volumes/482/482mass399.html https://www.joeturnerbooks.com/post/daniel-laplante Follow me here: ► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/ ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/ ► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/ ► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik *Go Ad-Free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SerialNapper * Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    54 mins
  • Inside the Disturbing World of the “Vampire King of Fresno”

    Inside the Disturbing World of the “Vampire King of Fresno”
    Sep 29 2026
    On March 12, 2004, two women arrived at a converted commercial building in Fresno, California, with one goal: they wanted their children back. Inside was their extended family, led by 57-year-old Marcus Wesson. What began as a tense family dispute soon turned into something much darker. Because Ruby Ortiz and Sofina Solorio knew things about Marcus that the police standing outside did not. They knew about the strange world he had created around his family. They knew what happened when someone challenged his authority. And they knew about a plan that was never supposed to be put into action. By the end of the day, Marcus Wesson would become the centre of one of the most disturbing cases in Fresno history, eventually earning the bizarre nickname “The Vampire King of Fresno.” But the vampires aren't the most frightening part of this story. Sources: https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Periodicals/LUH/LUH20050401-V97-04.pdf https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jun-04-me-wesson4-story.html https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/8-2580-s136171-app-supp-brief-081426.pdf https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article237506244.html https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/case-information/briefs-argued-cases/september-9-2026-oral-argument-cases https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/case-information/oral-arguments/webcast-library https://www.cbsnews.com/news/suicide-pact-in-fresno-deaths/ https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=0&doc_id=1867849&doc_no=S136171&request_token=NiIwLSEnPkw3WyApSCI9TENJUFA0UDxfICM%2BQz1TICAgCg%3D%3D& Follow me here: ► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/ ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/ ► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/ ► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik *Go Ad-Free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SerialNapper * Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    59 mins
  • He Woke Up to His Mother on Fire: The Michael Politte Case

    He Woke Up to His Mother on Fire: The Michael Politte Case
    Sep 25 2026
    Fourteen-year-old Michael Politte woke to smoke filling his bedroom. His friend Josh was asleep on the floor nearby, and an orange glow was coming from underneath his mother's bedroom door. When Michael opened that door, he found his mother, 40-year-old Rita Politte, lying on the floor with her upper body on fire. Rita hadn't died in an accidental house fire. She had been brutally attacked. Within days, investigators turned their attention to Michael. What followed was a case built around fire, gasoline, a teenage witness whose story seemed to change, and a boy who insisted from the beginning that he did not kill his mother. Michael would spend more than two decades behind bars. But years later, some of the evidence that helped put him there would come under serious scrutiny, raising new questions about the investigation, the conviction, and what really happened inside Rita Politte's home on December 5, 1998. Sources: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-politte-rita-politte-missouri-sleepover-murder-investigation/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-politte-rita-politte-murder-missouri-48-hours/ https://www.the-sun.com/news/8554794/michael-polittee-found-mom-rita-murder/ https://news.stlpublicradio.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2021-09-29/michael-politte-has-served-22-years-for-murdering-his-mother-experts-say-hes-innocent https://www.kwch.com/2022/04/14/team-lawyers-work-prove-innocence-14-year-old-convicted-mothers-murder/ https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=180456 https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=184233 https://themip.org/clients/ https://law.justia.com/cases/missouri/supreme-court/2023/sc99813.html https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-moed-4_22-cv-01169/pdf/USCOURTS-moed-4_22-cv-01169-0.pdf https://dockets.justia.com/docket/circuit-courts/ca8/26-1476 Follow me here: ► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/ ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/ ► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/ ► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik *Go Ad-Free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SerialNapper * Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    46 mins
  • A Chance Encounter: Henry Nowak Should Have Made It Home

    A Chance Encounter: Henry Nowak Should Have Made It Home
    Sep 22 2026
    Eighteen-year-old Henry Nowak had only recently started his first semester at the University of Southampton. He was studying accounting and finance, playing football, making new friends and building a life away from home for the first time. On the night of December 3rd, 2025, Henry went out with friends before beginning the walk back to his student accommodation. Along the way, he crossed paths with a stranger. Less than an hour later, police arrived on Belmont Road following reports of an assault. They had been told who the victim was and who they believed had carried out the attack. But as officers tried to make sense of the scene, Henry was on the ground telling them something was seriously wrong. He said he'd been stabbed. He said he couldn't breathe. And then he was placed in handcuffs. What followed would become a murder investigation involving phone recordings, bodycam footage, a missing weapon and a secretly recorded conversation inside a police van. But after the criminal case was over and the public saw footage of Henry's final conscious minutes, his death became the centre of a much larger and increasingly political debate about policing, race and religion in Britain. Sources: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpvpv2xylgeo https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/01/henry-nowak-two-officers-under-gross-misconduct-investigation https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/home-secretary-statement-on-henry-nowak https://www.cps.gov.uk/wessex/news/henry-nowak-killers-mother-jailed-after-removing-murder-weapon https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/britain-murder-henry-nowak-debate-race-9.7222123 https://www.hampshire.police.uk/news/hampshire/news/news/2026/may/man-convicted-of-murdering-student-in-southampton/ https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/02/world/europe/henry-nowak-murder-uk-stabbing.html https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Digwa-Final-Sentencing-Remarks.pdf https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/home-news/henry-nowak-police-transcript-video-b3002166.html https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2026-05-20/sikh-man-tells-court-he-stabbed-student-in-self-defence-after-he-was-abused https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2026-05-22/sikh-man-on-trial-for-killing-student-pleads-not-guilty-to-manslaughter https://www.gov.uk/government/news/solicitor-general-refers-vickrum-digwa-to-court-of-appeal https://www.aol.com/articles/digwa-dad-brother-plead-not-162315000.html https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/news/iopc-investigating-conduct-two-officers-henry-nowak-case https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ2rcv_zGw0 Follow me here: ► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/ ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/ ► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/ ► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik *Go Ad-Free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SerialNapper * Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    58 mins
  • We’re Here for the Party: Yoshihiro Hattori's First American Halloween

    We’re Here for the Party: Yoshihiro Hattori's First American Halloween
    Sep 18 2026
    On October 17th, 1992, 16-year-old Yoshihiro “Yoshi” Hattori was getting ready for his first real American Halloween party. Yoshi had recently arrived in Louisiana from Japan as an exchange student. He was outgoing, adventurous and determined to experience everything his year abroad had to offer. That night, dressed in a white tuxedo inspired by John Travolta, Yoshi headed to a party with his 17-year-old host brother and friend, Webb Haymaker. But they got lost. When the boys approached a house they believed might be hosting the party, they rang the doorbell. Nobody answered, so they started walking back toward their car. Then a door opened. What happened next would devastate two families, spark outrage across Japan and force uncomfortable conversations about fear, self-defence, gun culture and the assumptions people make in a matter of seconds. Sources: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50063364 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/22/gun-control-japanese-mother-march-for-our-lives-campaign-parkland-students https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260312/p2a/00m/0na/024000chttps://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/04/20/yoshihiro-hattori-mistaken-address-shooting-japan/ https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/95-0144-app-1-888785175 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-16-mn-39293-story.html https://yoshi-c.com/Alyssa-and-Yoshi-message_jp.html https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/05/20/Lawyer-claims-exchange-student-shot-in-defense-of-home/5929737870400/ Follow me here: ► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/ ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/ ► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/ ► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik *Go Ad-Free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SerialNapper * Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • The Story Behind the Interrogation: What Happened to Ryan Waller & Heather Quan?

    The Story Behind the Interrogation: What Happened to Ryan Waller & Heather Quan?
    Sep 15 2026
    On Christmas night in 2006, Ryan Waller’s parents became worried when their 18-year-old son didn’t show up for dinner and stopped answering his phone. They drove to the Phoenix home he shared with his girlfriend, 21-year-old Heather Quan, but no one came to the door. When police entered the house, they found Heather dead from a gunshot wound and Ryan alive, badly injured and deeply confused. Ryan was taken to the police station, where detectives tried to figure out what had happened. He struggled to answer even the simplest questions. He couldn’t remember basic details about Heather. His story wandered into strange territory involving two men, “bow and arrows,” and a former roommate named Richie. To investigators, very little of it seemed to make sense. Until suddenly, it did. What followed was an investigation that would lead to two murder trials, a controversial interrogation, a years-long fight over Ryan’s medical treatment, and a change to Arizona law carrying Heather Quan’s name. Sources: https://unquestionablycriminal.medium.com/police-interrogate-a-dying-man-with-two-bullets-in-his-brain-accusing-him-of-murder-28644de1a899 https://law.justia.com/cases/arizona/court-of-appeals-division-one-unpublished/2013/1-ca-cr-08-0781.html https://www.maricopacountyattorney.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=185 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-azd-2_19-cv-03755/pdf/USCOURTS-azd-2_19-cv-03755-0.pdf https://celebsuburb.com/what-happened-to-ryan-waller-the-untold-truth-about-his-death/#A_Few_Details_On_Ryan_Waller_Early_Life https://www.okaybliss.com/ryan-waller-story/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI8G0KOOtqk Follow me here: ► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/ ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/ ► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/ ► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik *Go Ad-Free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SerialNapper * Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    50 mins
  • The Deleted Emails: The Sharon Lopatka Story

    The Deleted Emails: The Sharon Lopatka Story
    Sep 11 2026
    In October of 1996, 35-year-old Sharon Lopatka told her husband she was leaving their Maryland home for a short trip to visit friends in Georgia. But Sharon wasn't going to Georgia. She left her car near a Baltimore train station, boarded a train heading south, and left behind a disturbing goodbye letter for her husband. In it, Sharon seemed to acknowledge the possibility that she might never come home. When police began searching for her, the trail led somewhere that was still relatively unfamiliar territory for investigators in 1996: Sharon's computer. Behind the quiet life she shared with her husband was an extensive online world filled with different identities, private fantasies and increasingly disturbing conversations with strangers. One of those strangers called himself “Slowhand.” His real name was Robert Glass. For weeks, Sharon and Robert had exchanged messages about violence, torture and death. Then Sharon decided to leave the safety of the computer screen behind and meet him in person. What happened after she arrived in North Carolina would become the subject of a deeply unusual homicide case, one that raised questions about fantasy, consent, intent and whether someone can ever legally give another person permission to kill them. Sources: https://alchetron.com/Sharon-Lopatka-homicide https://www.dailydot.com/society/internet-assisted-suicide-sharon-lopatka/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1996/10/30/slain-womans-e-mail-reveals-violent-intentions/d941faa0-4d6a-4aa5-9add-bfd1813e2f9b/ https://www.ranker.com/list/facts-about-sharon-lopatka/cat-mcauliffe https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1997/03/12/hearing-in-sex-death/623b87a2-8d9c-4280-9fb4-1d301f2a6be2/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/01/28/murder-charge-dropped-in-96-internet-sex-case/0829f8da-802a-42be-a0e0-40c9c9b1b7c5 https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/11/03/to-pinpoint-a-suspect-md-police-put-together-pieces-of-an-electronic-puzzle/250e90b7-3610-42de-bb43-f1b2e62903bb/ Follow me here: ► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/ ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/ ► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/ ► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik *Go Ad-Free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SerialNapper * Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    59 mins
  • What Happened on the 25th Floor?: The Tragic Stories of Josh and Amber Hilberling

    What Happened on the 25th Floor?: The Tragic Stories of Josh and Amber Hilberling
    Sep 8 2026
    On June 7th, 2011, a maintenance worker was repairing a broken window inside a 25th-floor apartment in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he heard a couple arguing in the next room. Then came another crash. Within moments, 23-year-old Josh Hilberling was lying on the roof of a parking garage seventeen stories below. His heavily pregnant wife, 19-year-old Amber Hilberling, admitted almost immediately that she had pushed him. But she insisted she never meant for him to go through the window. What followed was a case involving allegations of domestic violence on both sides, a marriage that appeared to be coming to an end, Amber's changing account of the moments before Josh fell, and a startling discovery about the glass separating their apartment from a 25-story drop. Was Josh's death the result of an intentional act of violence? Self-defence with an unimaginable consequence? Or could more than one thing be true at the same time? Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGW6Yw-ylMo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj7VpYZLtlE https://ninde.com/tribute/details/2111/Amber-Hilberling/obituary.html https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/how-pregnant-killer-who-pushed-22157523 https://www.killerqueenspodcast.com/amber-hilberling/ https://okcfox.com/medical-examiner-releases-autopsy-report-for-amber-hilberling#:~:text=TULSA%2C%20Okla.,according%20to%20her%20autopsy%20report. https://www.publicradiotulsa.org/local-regional/2013-03-09/tulsa-woman-rejects-plea-deal-in-husbands-high-rise-death https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/southcentral/2012/09/21/214026.htm https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/amber-hilberlings-estate-drops-lawsuit-against-oklahoma-department-of-corrections https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amber-hilberling-okla-woman-who-pushed-husband-out-of-high-rise-window-in-2011-found-guilty-of-second-degree-murder/ https://ninde.com/tribute/details/2111/Amber-Hilberling/obituary.html Follow me here: ► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/ ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/ ► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/ ► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik *Go Ad-Free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SerialNapper * Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 5 mins